Topband: Radials through heavy brush (Was:Radials over a stone wall)

[Dean]

Brilliant Gary!

Dean
K3GGN
~~~

On 8/10/2012 11:16 PM, Gary K9GS wrote:
> Here's how I lay radials in the woods with heavy brush.
>
> I have a ~15 foot long piece of wooden oak stairway handrail.  The kind
> you see for basement stairs.  It's about 2 inches in diameter and has a
> flat on one side so it's D shaped in cross section.
>
> With the flat facing down, cut a bevel on each end at a ~30-45 degree
> angle to the flat.  Looking from the side it looks kinda like this:
>
> <_______________>
>
> In each end I screw in a small screw eye.
>
> To lay a radial, lay the handrail on the ground, flat side down, and tie
> the radial to either screw eye.  If there is a lot of "stuff" to go
> through that's close to the ground it's easier to tie the radial to the
> trailing screw eye.  Then, keeping the flat on the ground use the
> handrail like a needle to thread it under/through the brush. You can
> sometimes give it a good push and it will go right through. This is
> where it helps to have a longer/heavier handrail.
>
> Then I work my way around the brush pile and get to the end of the
> handrail.  Then just untie the wire.  I usually tie the end of the wire
> to a 3-4 inch long nail and just push the nail into the ground to hold
> the end in place.
>
> The length of the handrail also helps to keep the radials evenly
> spaced.  You can keep the end closest to the antenna aligned with the
> base and use the previously laid radial as a guide to keep things even.
>
> Wear a long-sleeved shirt or your arms will look like you were in a cat
> fight.  Around here (Wisconsin) our brush is typically "Buckthorn" which
> is covered with 1/4 inch long very sharp thorns.......<ouch>.
>
> This works really well for me...YMMV
>